LAHORE An 18-member Pakistan national hockey team squad led by captain Ashraf has left for Argentine to take part in the Champions Challenge Cup-I. National players flew to Dubai at 3 am on a flight of a private airline from Allama Iqbal International Airport and they will leave for Argentine through Brazil from Dubai. Before departure, coach Shahid Ali Khan and captain Zeeshan Ashraf told media they were hopeful of winning the tournament. The winner of the tournament will qualify for the next years Champions Trophy. The Challenge Cup is being participated by eight teams which have been divided into two groups of four teams. Pakistans rival India are in the other pool and the likely chance is that they would meet in the semi-final if not final. Shahid Ali said that the team would maintain its good performance that it displayed during the World Cup Qualifying Round held at Lillie, France. All the players including the seniors are fit to excel and I am hopeful to see them show the same vigour they gave during the World Cup qualifying round, he added. The tournament is a bit difficult from the qualifying round because the teams participating are tough and Pakistan team have to work hard for a win, he added. Zeeshan Ashraf said that the team will give its best performance and come up to the expectation. There was a need of attention on certain departments of the game and special focus have been drawn on those areas during camp training. The flaws noticed during the qualifying round have been worked on and have been tried to overcome those, he added. The BDO Champions Challenge I is being held at Salta (Argentina) from December 6 to 13 and apart from Pakistan, hosts Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa are the other teams taking part in it. Pakistan has been placed in Group B along with Canada, South Africa and Argentina. Pool A comprises of Belgium, China, India and New Zealand. Pakistan will play their opening match on December 6 against Canada, second on December 8 against hosts Argentina and third and last pool tie on December 10 against South Africa. The classification matches and semi-finals will be played on December 12 and the final will be held on December 13.